Adjustable fastener assembly for concrete ties

ABSTRACT

A rail fastener comprises a hold-down bolt anchored in a tie and passing through a slot in a clamp plate which abuts the rail base flange and is adjustably associated with a bottom piece slidable longitudinally in an abutment seat in spaced parallel relation to the edge of the rail base flange on the tie, whereby the track gage can be adjusted and at the same time the bolt can be protected against thrusts from lateral movement of the rail; and preferably the clamp plate and bottom piece are formed for wedgelike coaction upon longitudinal movement of the bottom piece in the abutment seat relatively to the clamp plate to produce small movements of the clamp plate toward or away from the rail.

United States Patent 1191 Burwell [54] ADJUSTABLE FASTENER ASSEMBLY FOR CONCRETE TIES [75] Inventor: Gar Wood N. Burwell, Madison,

[73] Assignee: The Rails Company, Maplewood,

[22] Filed: Apr. 28, 1971 21 A l. No.: 138,115

[ 1 3,731,875 [451 May 8, 1973 3,517,883 6/1970 Holstein ..238/283 Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Harry B. Rook [57] ABSTRACT A rail fastener comprises a hold-down bolt anchored in a tie and passingthrough a slot in a clamp plate which abuts the rail base flange and is adjustably associated with a bottom piece slidable longitudinally in an abutment seat in spaced parallelrelation to the edge of the rail base flange on the tie, whereby the track gage can be adjusted and at the same time the bolt can be protected against thrusts from lateral movement of the rail; and preferably the clamp plate and bottom piece are formed for wedge-like coaction upon longitudinal movement of the bottom piece in the abutment seat relatively to the clamp'plate to produce small movements of the clamp plate toward or away from the rail. 1

3 Claims, 8 Drawing-Figures PATENTEDNAY' 8 I913 SHEET 2 OF INVENTOR. Waac/ 'ZYBMf/Mzll .m 5gg.

ATTORNEY ADJUSTABLE FASTENERASSEMBLY FOR CONC RETE TIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION some of which engage the edges of the base flanges for setting the rail gage. Frequently adjustments of the rail within the seat are required forexample, to change the gage, especially on curves; sometimes the adjustments are in increments of one-fourth inch, and many times the required adjustments are extremely small, for example one-eighth inch.

However, known adjustable fasteners of this general character leave much to be desired, in that either they are complicated and expensive, or they are unreliable and are not strong enough to ensure firm clamping of the rail, because the teeth are too small, or they do not provide for the required small adjustments, for example be inch adjustments when the teeth are large, for example /4 inch teeth.

In fasteners for concrete ties it is essential that the bolts be protected against the forces incident to lateral movement of the rail, e.g. when a train is running around a curve in the track.- This has been done but generally no provision has been made for adjustment of the track gage.

SUMMARY A primary object of the invention is to provide an adjustable rail fastener which overcomes the objections to and disadvantages of known devices, and which is simple, relatively inexpensive, capable of providing small adjustments of the order of one-eighth inch, and the same time is strongand durable.

The invention contemplates that the intermeshing teeth of the parts shall be large and strong for example, /4 inch cast iron teeth to ensure strength and durability andprovide for large adjustments of for'example, onetively teeth on the under surface of a clamp plate for movement of the clamp plate to adjust the track gage, in combination with a screw or a bolt secured in the tie and passing through the clampplate and having a head or a nut respectively, for pressing the clamp plate to clamp the rail in adjusted position on the tie and to clamp the bottom piece tight on the tie.

It is another object of the inventionto form the teeth on the bottom piece and the teeth on the clamp plate with a pitch or inclination so that by longitudinally sliding the bottom piece in the abutment seat even slight distances, selectively in opposite directions a wedge ac- .tion occurs between the teeth of the bottom piece and the teeth of the clamp plate which causes movement of the clamp plate small distances e. g. one-eighth inch toward or away from the rail base to thereby adjust the track gage.

An important object of the invention is to protect the bolt in a concrete tie against the lateral thrust from the rail and by the same novel means provide for adjustment of the track gage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a rail, a concrete tie and rail holding devices embodying the invention, portions of the rail being broken away and shown in horizontal section;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view taken approximately from the plane of the line 2-2 of FIG. .1, with the rail shown fragmentarily and in section;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 33 of FIG. 1, showing an insulator block associated with the holding device;

. FIG. 4 is a similar view with the insulator block omitted;

FIG. 5 is a bottom'perspective view on a reduced scale of the clamp plate of the holding device;

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of the bottom piece of the holding device;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of therail holding device with portions of the clamp plate broken away for clearness of illustration of the bottom piece, and

FIG. '8 is a bottom plan view of the clamp plate shown in FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, the reference character A designates a railway rail having the usual base flanges 1 seated on a resilientpad 2 on the top of a concrete tie B of generally known construction. As shown, the top surface of the tie has a transversely extending abutment seat 3 spaced from and parallel to one edge of flange of the rail and another abutment seat 4 of slightly different form spaced from and parallel to the edge of the other flange of the rail, these seats being provided for the respective bottom pieces Sand 6 of rail holding devices generally designated C and D.

The bottom pieces have their bottom surfaces contoured transversely to correspond to the respective abutment seats and slidable therealong, and the top surfaces of the bottom pieces have upwardly projecting parallel teeth 7 and 8 extending in a direction longitu dinal of the abutment seats. Coacting with the bottom pieces 5 and 6 are clamp plates 9 and 10 which may be identical and have the respective teeth 11 and 12 on their bottom surfaces adjacent one end to mesh selectively and adjustably with the teeth on the corresponding bottom piece, and each clamp plate at its other end is adapted to overlie the top surface of the corresponding rail flange and has at least one depending lug 13 to engage either the edge of the rail flange (FIG. 4) or an electrical insulator block 14 when one is utilized as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, thereby providing for movement of the clamp plate selectively toward and from the rail to adjust the track gage.

The clamp plates are pressed and held in tight engagement with the bottom pieces and the rail by suitable fastening means.

As shown, each fastening means includes a headed screw 12 screwed into a bushing secured in the tie between the respective abutment seats and the corresponding edge of the rail flange in known manner and adapted to pass loosely through a slot 13 in the corresponding clamp plate with its head 14 overlying and forcibly engaging the clamp plate.

To the end that the holding devices may be strong and durable, preferably the bottom piece and the clamp plate are formed of cast metal, and desirably the teeth are large, for example so that their crests are spaced apart equal distances of the order of about onefourth inch. With such a construction, it will be understood that the clamp plates may be adjusted toward and from the rail relative to the corresponding bottom pieces in distance increments of about one-fourth inch so as to properly locate the corresponding ends of the clamp plates and the depending rail positioning lugs relative to the track gage.

In some instances it is desirable that the adjustments be made in the smaller increments, for example in increments of one-eighth inch, and in accordance with the invention the teeth 7 and 8 of the bottom pieces are inclined to the edges of the rail flanges and the longitudinal dimensions of the abutment seats, while the teeth 11 and 12 of the clamp plates are also inclined so that the teeth on the bottom pieces and the teeth on the clamp plate coact with wedge-like action upon movement of the bottom pieces longitudinally of the rail and the abutment seats relative to the clamp plates which are held against movementlongitudinally of the rail by the screws 12. Obviously, the extent and direction of the longitudinal movement of the bottom pieces will determine direction and the amount of movement of the clamp plates toward or from the rail; and the length of the bottom pieces is greater than the width of the clamp plates so that force may be applied selectively to either end. Of course, the screws should be initially sufficiently loosened to permit the bottom pieces to be driven beneath the clamp plates for making such adjustments, and after the adjustments have been effected, the screws should be again tightened to firmly clamp both the bottom pieces, the clamp plates and the rail in the desired position on the tie.

In some cases, a simple adjustment of the clamp plates a predetermined distance, for example onefourth inch, is all that is required, and for such purposes, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bottom pieces 19 may have their teeth 20 parallel to the edge of the rail flange, and the clamp plates 2l'may have their teeth 22 also formed parallel to the edge of the rail or perpendicular to the side edges of the plates. Where adjustments are desired, it is merely necessary to loosen the fastening screws 23 and lift and slide the clamp plates relatively to the bottom pieces to cause meshing of the teeth of the bottom pieces and the plates in the proper positions to effect the desired adjustment of the clamp plates relative to the rail.

- It will be noted that in both forms of the invention the bottom pieces can be easily slid in the abutment seats in the ties and can be bodily moved to any desired position with respect to the fastening means and the clamp plates, and only frictional engagement of the bottom pieces with the tie is relied on to hold the bot tom pieces at the desired point.

The construction also ensures that all lateral forces incident to lateral movement of the rail on the tie, are transmitted by the clamp plates directly to the bottom pieces and thence to the abutment seats on the tie and the screws are protected against forces that might bend the screws or loosen them in the tie.

I claim:

1. A railway rail holding device comprising the combination of a concrete railway tie and a rail having base flanges supported thereon, said tie having a transverse abutment seat spaced from and parallel to the edge of each flange, and rail fasteners each including a rigid elongated bottom' piece for each abutment seat whose bottom surface is contoured transversely corresponding to the respective seat and slidable longitudinally therealong and whose top surface has upwardly projecting teeth extending in a direction longitudinal of said piece and said seat, a clamp plate having a slot perpendicular to said seat for a part of a fastening means and having teeth on its bottom surface adjacent one end to mesh selectively and adjustably with said teeth on said bottom piece thereby providing for movement of the clamp plate relatively to said part of the fastening means toward and away from the rail to adjust the track gage, the other end portion of said clamp plate overlying the top surface of the corresponding rail flange, the teeth on said bottom piece and the teeth on said clamp plate being inclined to the longitudinal dimension of said seat to coact with a wedge-like action upon sliding movement of the bottom piece longitudinally of said abutment seat relatively to said clamp plate for selective adjustment of the clamp plate laterally relatively to the rail base flange distances that are less than the spacing between said teeth, and fastening means having a part secured in said tie between said abutment seat and said rail base flange to pass loosely through said slot in the said clamp plate and another part forcibly engageable with the second-mentioned end of said clamp plate to clamp said rail on said tie and to hold in mesh the teeth of the clamp plate and the teeth of the bottom piece and at the same time force the bottom piece into tight immovable contact with said abutment seat, and said second part being at will releasable from said clamp plate to permit said relative sliding movement of said bottom piece and said abutment seat.

2. A railway rail holding device as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one clamp plate has a depending lug disposed between its ends selectively to abut the edge of the rail base flange upon adjustment of the clamp plate to position the rail relative to the gage.

3. A railway rail holding device as defined in claim 1 wherein the length of each bottom piece is substantially greater than the width of the clamp plate providing for application of force to either end of the bottom piece for sliding it longitudinally of the abutment seat. 

1. A railway rail holding device comprising the combination of a concrete railway tie and a rail having base flanges supported thereon, said tie having a transverse abutment seat spaced from and parallel to the edge of each flange, and rail fasteners each including a rigid elongated bottom piece for each abutment seat whose bottom surface is contoured transversely corresponding to the respective seat and slidable longitudinally therealong and whose top surface has upwardly projecting teeth extending in a direction longitudinal of said piece and said seat, a clamp plate having a slot perpendicular to said seat for a part of a fastening means and having teeth on its bottom surface adjacent one end to mesh selectively and adjustably with said teeth on said bottom piece thereby providing for movement of the clamp plate relatively to said part of the fastening means toward and away from the rail to adjust the track gage, the other end portion of said clamp plate overlying the top surface of the corresponding rail flange, the teeth on said bottom piece and the teeth on said clamp plate being inclined to the longitudinal dimension of said seat to coact with a wedge-like action upon sliding movement of the bottom piece longitudinally of said abutment seat relatively to said clamp plate for selective adjustment of the clamp plate laterally relatively to the rail base flange distances that are less than the spacing between said teeth, and fastening means having a part secured in said tie between said abutment seat and said rail base flange to pass loosely through said slot in the said clamp plate and another part forcibly engageable with the second-mentioned end of said clamp plate to clamp said rail on said tie and to hold in mesh the teeth of the clamp plate and the teeth of the bottom piece and at the same time force the bottom piece into tight immovable contact with said abutment seat, and said second part being at will releasable from said clamp plate to permit said relative sliding movement of said bottom piece and said abutment seat.
 2. A railway rail holding device as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one clamp plate has a depending lug disposed between its ends selectively to abut the edge of the rail base flange upon adjustment of the clamp plate to position the rail relative to the gage.
 3. A railway rail holding device as defined in claim 1 wherein the length of each bottom piece is substantially greater than the width of the clamp plate providing for application of force to either end of the bottom piece for sliding it longitudinally of the abutment seat. 